The Blind Leading the Dumb
by The-Lost-Ninjas
Summary: You've heard about successful ninjas? Well here are some who aren't. Lots of our own characters, Origional characters paired up with our own chracters, Multiple Pairings....everywhere...Character Bashing (especially Sakura) See more summary in the story
1. Default Chapter

For those of you who feel the inkling to read this lovely little story of ours we must warn you of (and apologize for) many things...  
  
First of all, this story shall be rated PG 13 for it's...*ahem* allusions to certain...acts^^'  
  
Secondly, there will be Yaoi scenes...well not really but we do allude to it, so those of you who absolutely abhore the thought, steer clear!  
  
Although...the yaoi, if you can call it that, is so minimal it's hardly even worth mentioning, so all you huge Yoai fans out there, don't get too exited, cuz it aint happening.  
  
Also, this story was written on msn messenger for our amusement, and concequently doesn't follow the story of the show at all, and doesn't have much of a plot line...and even less of a point. The story also centers mostly around our own made up characters.  
  
In conclusion, we basically apologize for most of this story, and hope we don't get too many flames for it...certain characters may not be shown in a very *ahem* flattering light...Keep an eye out for apologies at the end of future chapters^^ You can review our story if you like, but it isn't nesassary, And please...keep the flaming to a minimum, if you would^^'  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Mei yawned and stretched, and tightened the knot on the headband tied to her arm. This was her first day of being a ninja...and her group's instructor hadn't even shown up yet. She glanced over, a little intimidated, at her other two group members. There was Seda, a girl with strange staring eyes, and Guido, the unquestioned pervert of the entire class, although he vehemantly denied it. Both of them were better students than she was and she was afraid to show her weakness in front of them.   
  
Guido sighed impatiently. "When is that instructor going to get here?" he wondered irritably. Mei opened her mouth to reply when a square of paper landed on her head with a small flutter. Annoyed she snatched the paper off her head and was going to though it in the garbage can when she noticed that it was a letter. Curious, she opened it and began to read:  
  
"Hello group number five!" the letter read cheerfully. "Your first lesson is to go to the woods outside and discover a treasure I've placed there." Mei twitched as the looked down at the signature...it was signed simply "Your instructor", and had a smilie face holding up two fingers in a peace sign drawn beside it. She twitched some more. What kind of an instructor had they gotten?  
  
"Well?" Seda asked, "What does it say?" her freaky eyes were giving Mei the creeps. Mei shuddered, 'its like she not even looking at me.' She thought, then swallowed and handed Seda the letter to her to read. To Mei's annoyance, however, she did not take it...and Guido who was on the other side of the freaky eyed ninja was too nervous to even attempt to reach past Seda to get it. Sighing with annoyance Mei read the letter out loud.  
  
"Interesting..." Seda said, with a slight hint of annoyance in her voice. Still, she didn't look directly at Mei...it was so creepy.  
  
"What do we do then?" Guido asked, skirting the long way around Seda to look at the note himself.   
  
"Umm...go to the woods?" Mei suggested. "Our instructor may not be here but...umm...we have to follow his instructions...right?" she smiled.  
  
Seda thought about this for a minute. "Makes sense." she answered, and reached down to pick up her pack without looking at it and slung it over her shoulder. She then left the room ahead of them. "Well, are you two coming or not?" she asked, not looking behind at them.  
  
Mei wondered how she knew that they were standing there not even moving a muscle, when she hadn't even turned to look. 'She must be a really good ninja.' Mei thought, feeling intimidated again. She reached down and grabbed her bag, but while in that position of having her butt in the air she feat something smack her in that vicinity.   
  
She shrieked and flung out a hand instinctively, connected with Guido's face and knocked him to the other side of the room. He groaned and tried to get up as Mei fumed at him. "You pervert!" she cried angrily, stomping out of the room.   
  
Guido pulled himself to his feet and grabbed his bag, following her. "I didn't mean it, I swear!" he cried desperately.  
  
"Liar!" She shrieked back at him, ignoring the fact that it wasn't a hand that had connected with her backside.  
  
Mei caught up to Seda, and fell in step beside the strange girl who was staring straight ahead, not even looking at the stuff that went on around her. Guido stayed a few paces back from Mei and on the other side of Seda.  
  
Without speaking to one another, the group found it's way outside and wandered down the path into the forest outside of the village.   
  
"So...where do we look for this 'treasure', anyway?" Guido wondered, as something shiny caught Mei's eye, causing her to stray from the path.  
  
"Found it!" she called, pulling a small shiny treasure chest from the bushes.  
  
The shiny thing was an emblem that was sealing anouther letter closed. Mei snatched up the letter and read it out loud:  
  
"Dear Students  
  
YOU PASSED!"  
  
-Your Teacher  
  
P.S. Assignmentes start tommorow, meet back here tommorow morning."  
  
Mei twiched as she looked at the stupid little happy face in the bottom of the page.  
  
"We...passed?" Seda asked incredulously. "But we didn't do anything!"  
  
"Who cares?" Guido answered, putting his hands behind his head and grinning. "It means more sleep for me!" He grinned stupidly, took a step, tripped on a small rock and fell onto Seda from behind. He desperately tried to get away before the inevitable pain that was to follow.  
  
But no pain came. Guido, who had covered his eyes hoping to be spared opened his eyes and blinked when he noticed Seda had mearly stood and was brushing herself off. "Watch where you step next time" was all she said.  
  
"Hey, stop being such a pervert!" Mei came out of nowhere and slammed a large stick on his head. Guido fell to his knees holding his head in pain.   
  
"Owwwww..." he complained, rolling on the ground.  
  
After beating Guido, Mei shouldered her pack and headed for home. 'Man I must have the worst team mates ever!' she thought angrily, 'Not only am I stuck with a pervert, but the freaky eyed girl who doesn't CARE if a PERVERT tries to grab her!' Mei clenched her fist, and fire could be seen in her eyes, 'I shall have to be extra viligent then! I must protect my fellow female from that pervert!'  
  
"Um..." Guido stood up and looked with fear at the girl's burning eyes. "She's scaring me..."  
  
"Don't mind her, she's just...spirited." Seda answered. Mei then started laughing insanely, for no apparant reason, and the other two sweatdropped.  
  
Pretty soon the trio had fallen into a routine, of appearing at the site in the wee morning hours waiting forever until a letter eventually fell form the sky, telling them what their misson was that day. They were all tedious little tasks that Mei couldn't stand, but she usually was able to relieve the stress of the day by 'saving' Seda from the pervert, Guido.  
  
After a very long time of this routine the trio had pretty much given up hope on ever acually meeting their instructor, being allowed to do a more complicated mission, or being nominated to take the selection exam to become a higher ninja.  
  
In fact, it wasn't until the youngest of the three was now 16 when the all important event happened which would change their lives. Mei, half asleep, leaning against the the usual tree they now waited under, felt the familiar rustle of a paper falling on her head. Nonchalantly she reached up and read it, as she had done a million times before, but this time her eyes grew wide and she leapt to her feet, doing a weird sort of victory dance in front of her comrades. Guido stared at her, sweatdropping. "What's there worth dancing about?" he wondered, hoping she wasn't going to hurt him again.  
  
Mei held up the letter at arms length for him to see. Guido's eyes widend as he read the letter:  
  
'Dear students,  
  
Due to your ecelent work so far, you have been assigned a C level task.  
  
Meet back here tommorow for more details.'  
  
Once more the letter was signed with their teacher's notorious happy face.  
  
Mei continued her odd victory dance, chanting: "We get a level c task, we get a level c task!" Guido grinned himself, and joined her in the dance and the chanting. Anything was better than saving cats stuck up in trees all the time. Seda sighed and ignored the two, wandering down the road back home to sleep until the morning  
  
Mei concluded her dance very quickly when she realised who she was dancing with. Leaving a wounded Guido on the ground she headed for home. Planning on getting some extra sleep, so she could get there early.  
  
The next morning, she awoke early (although she knew there was no point to getting there on time), wolfed down her wheat germ ceral (which was nasty but good for you), and practically skipped to the meeting place. Surprisingly she was the first one there, something that had never happened before.  
  
Seda was there not long after, but It was a long time before Guido met up with them. He promptly got punished by Mei for his tardiness. As soon as Mei was finished handing out punishment, the customary note landed on her head. Excited, she snatched it off and began to read out loud:  
  
"This is a group mission with the hidden leaf villiage", she read allowed. "Meet them outside the villiage at the standing stones at six oclock." The note was signed with the insufferable smiling face.  
  
Mei looked up slowly from the letter "Umm...what time is it?" she asked with dread.  
  
Guido checked his watch "11:42" he answered. "SHIT!" They all cursed, snatched up their bags and ran as fast as they could to the meeing place.   
  
To Be Continued....  
  
AN: hope you liked it so far, and we will be introducing the Naruto characters in the next chapter. Btw, there are two of us writing this, in case you were confused ;) 


	2. Chapter 2

They got there with a minute to spare. Mei fell to the ground, panting for breath, and Guido was right beside her, wishing that he hadn't decided to sleep in. Seda was the only one still standing but even she was out of breath, leaning against the large stone for support.  
  
"Damn that teacher..." Mei grumbled, gasping for breath. She reached up a hand to block out the sun, which was glaring down at her, but something else did it for her. Curious, she opened her eyes a crack. Her vision was met by a pair of blue eyes, blond spiky hair and a goofy grin. She was about to open her mouth to ask the oh-so-important question, when a finger poked her in the nose.  
  
"Do you always lie around in the middle of the woods?" The blond guy asked, grinning. Mei thought he looked somewhat like a cat or something with his grinning face and the weird lines on either cheek.   
  
"Ummm..." She began, not entirely sure how to explain the situation.  
  
The blond cocked his head to the side, "What? Cat got your tounge?" he commented at Mei's failure to answer, seeming to have completely forgotten that he still had his finger attached to her nose. Mei was getting a tad annoyed at this, so she did the only thing she could think of. She Bit. She bit hard on the offending finger.  
  
The guy yelled and withdrew his finger immediately, retreating to the safety of a nearby tree. "Hey!" He called down at her angrily, cradling his injured appendage, "What was that for?!"  
  
"...Remind me never to touch your nose." Guido pointed out, getting to his feet and brushing himself off, then inching away from Mei, who had that murderous look in her eyes again.  
  
Mei stood up and glared at the guy hiding in the tree, "That's for sticking your finger were it DOSEN'T BELONG!" she grabbed a throwing star form her pouch and was about to throw it at the blond when a hand clamped over her wrist.   
  
"Now, now, Children." said a cheery voice beside her. Mei looked up into the single eye of a silver haired man, he seemed to be smiling but his mouth was covered with a black mask so Mei couldn't tell.  
  
"Wha..." Mei blinked. Where had this guy come from? The man let go of her wrist and stood up to his full height, while Mei retreated to safety behind Guido.   
  
"So you're who they sent?" the one eyed guy asked, looking the three of them over. As he spoke, two others approached from behind him, a dark haired and very unamused looking boy and a pink haired girl in a red outfit.  
  
Mei looked, confused, at each of the new persons then back to her teammates. Guido had a serious look on his face, like he always did when he fought. 'The guy might be a pervert but he's a good fighter.', Mei thought to herself. Seda was... well not really looking at anything, but more or less staring in the direction of the intruders. Mei was racking her brain for something to say when Seda answered for them.   
  
"If you are the ninjas from Konoha, then yes."  
  
"They send these weak ninjas to help us." The black haired guy said, not looking at them. "They must not have much faith in us..." He added quietly.  
  
"Hey, we aren't weak!" Mei cried, pointing a finger at them. "Our instructor told us that we were capable enough for this task, because we are!" She added dramatically.  
  
The guy looked around, then looked back at the three low level ninjas.   
  
"So where is your instructor, then?" he asked.  
  
Mei turned pale and twitched. "Well uh..." she stuttered.  
  
"We've never met our instructor." Seda answered for Mei, who was having a difficult time trying to explain why their instructor was not there.   
  
The dark haired boy turned to look at Seda, and Mei could have sworn Seda actually took interest in this because she turned and looked at him...well looked in his general direction, anyway.  
  
"Well, be that as it may, we're stuck together." The silver haired man pointed out. "My name is Instructor Kakashi...you three, introduce yourselves." he said casually, but it was obvious it was a command, and not a suggestion.  
  
"I'm Sakura." the pink haired girl smiled.   
  
The dark haired guy humphed and said simply: "Sasuke"  
  
The blond boy jumped down from his tree, apparantly having completely forgotten his injured finger and said with feeling: "Naruto here!!!" and plastered another goofy grin on his face.  
  
Mei twitched at the blond's antics, but suppressed the urge to sink her teeth into his flesh again. "I'm Mei, " she said, standing boldly out from behind Guido,   
  
Guido raised his hand in a lazy manner, and said "Guido."   
  
Seda was again staring off into space but answered anyway with "Seda." Instructor Kakashi nodded his head, and a note landed on Mei's head. She sighed "And this would be our Instructor."   
  
While their four new companions looked on, sweatdropping, she pulled the note off her head (an action that was quite routine by now), and read it aloud.  
  
"Good luck on your mission, team! Be good!" It was signed with the ever present smiley face. After reading it out loud she sighed and crumpled it up, throwing it over her shoulder.  
  
Kakashi nodded his head, as if he understood what was going on here. "Well, seeing that your instructor is a piece of paper, I must ask: Do you know what this misson is about?"  
  
"Oh oh, I know this one!" Mei cried, holding up her hand enthusiastically. When everyone had turned their attention to her, she grinned. "We haven't got a clue!" She replied happily.  
  
"I thought so." Kakashi nodded knowingly as if this were all perfectly normal. Sakura, would you care to explain?"  
  
Sakura jumped at the sound of her name then stood forward. "Of course. Our mission is to deliver this bag of...well we don't know what it is because we're not allowed to look at it." She indicated a small plain looking burlap bag, then took a deep breath. "In the spirit of creating links with other nations, we requested help from your village, since the trip will be a long one." having finished, she stood back again.  
  
"But why us?" Mei asked. She didn't see why they were being given this privilege. "I mean sure our town is good for churning out students but there's probably a lot more villages out there with people to spare. We're not exactly a bustling metropolis here you know." What Mei really wanted to know was why their itty bitty town was being given this honor...although she couldn't seem put the words together respectfully.  
  
Kakashi shrugged. "I don't know. My guess is that the village rulers are attempting to bring the smaller villages into the swing of things." He answered. "Since it's only been the main villages getting attention, they feel as if the rest are being left out."  
  
Mei fell silent. She wasn't sure about this whole idea, and she was possibly even more confused than before.  
  
Seda sighed and patted her team-mate's head, "Don't think too hard on it Mei. We were given a job and now we have to do it." Mei stared back at her freaky eyed team-mate. She was entirely all to calm about the whole thing. Even Guido looked annoyed with the assignment.  
  
"Er...can we have some time to gather our things?" Mei asked, holding up her hand.   
  
Seda sighed and crossed a hand over her chest. "The first rule of ninja is to carry everything you need for survival at all times." she recited.   
  
Guido looked at her. "I thought you said the first rule of ninja was to know your limitations." he said with a raised eyebrow.  
  
In the blink of an eye Seda had Guido on the ground with her foot pressed into his back while twisting his arm behind him. "You're right, you must always be aware of your limitations Guido, but that means nothing if you are not prepared for what is to come." The four onlookers were all staring open-mouthed at Seda, even Mei, who had never seen her team-mate act this way before...it was scary.  
  
"Ok, ok, uncle uncle already!" Guido cried desperately. Seda gave his arm one more twist then let him go. Guido rushed to his feet and tried to hide behind Mei to keep away from the psycho girl. Unfortunately Mei, as usual, took it the wrong way.  
  
"Don't touch me, pervert!!!!" She cried, and floored him with one swing of her fist.   
  
"Why me?" Guido complained pathetically as he hit the ground.  
  
Naruto hunched down by the fallen Guido, "Hey man, are you still alive?" he asked, poking him.   
  
"I wish I wasn't..." came the reply, then he promptly passed out from the pain. Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "Well it seems that now we will have to spend the night here in your village, since one of us is incapacitated." he pointed to the fallen Guido.  
  
A note fell out of the sky and landed once more on Mei's head. This time it was folded over and sealed, however, and addressed to "Instructor Kakashi." She blinked and handed it to the silver haired instructor. Kakashi opened it and read it, and without divulging any of the contents, nodded. "Seems like it's all settled, then. Let's go." He stuffed the paper in his pocket and wandered down the path towards the town.  
  
Naruto was bouncing up and down as they entered the village "SO Kakashi! where are we gonna stay? In a fancy Inn?"   
  
Kakashi blinked, and looked at Naruto "Right, you three need a place to stay." his students stared at him, unamused by his forgetfulness. "All right, Naruto you can stay with Mei, Sakura with Guido, and Sasuke with Seda." With a wave of his hand he was gone, leaving five very annoyed ninjas, and one unconscious boy in his wake.  
  
Naruto and Mei slowly turned their heads to look at each other. "I have to stay with you?" Naruto complained. "Your not going to bite me again, are you?"  
  
"Not unless you give me reason to." she replied simply, refusing to look at him.  
  
"Hmmm...I wonder how my parents are going to like me having a boy stay with me..." Seda pondered while Sasuke twitched next to her. Sakura was simply obviously disgusted at having the 'pervert as her host.  
  
Seeing that their teacher had already deserted them they could not argue for better accomodations, so Susuke sighed and fell into step behind Seda, leaving the rest of his team-mates to quarrel over the injustice of it all. He counted himself lucky that he didn't have to share a place with the female version of Dead Last or that weakling who was beaten up by girls. Seda at least didnt seem to be a talkative person so he figured it wouldn't be too bad.  
  
Sasuke didn't say a word as they entered the town, and neither did his guide. Several people looked up at the sight of a ninja from another villiage in their town, but didn't say anything about it. At last, Seda reached her house, which was rather large, and opened the door to allow him in. "Mom, I'm home!" she called into the silent house. When she got no answer she shrugged. "Guess they must be out." she said. "Make yourself at home, I'll go have the cook make dinner." She dropped her pack on the floor and left Sasuke to his own devices.  
  
Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and placed his pack down beside Seda's, then began to snoop around. Hey he's a ninja, what would you expect?. He came accross the living area first. There wasn't much in the way of personal stuff, so he moved on. He entered other rooms in the house, all showing a distinct lack of decorating skills, 'Note to sellf: Orange carpet does not go with yellow walls.' He thought to himself.  
  
This bizzare colour scheme prevailed in most of the rooms, he noticed as he ambled aimlessly down a hallway. Finally, however, he came across one without it. In fact, this room didn't have much of anything. The walls were grey, there was very little furnature in it, and everything about it seemed to be...well...grey.   
  
What was with these people? He wondered, as curiosity got the better of him and he entered the room. Compared to the rest of the house this room was a godsend, but compared to anyone else's house it was beyond drab. There was a bed in the corner, and a dresser opposite a comfy looking chair by an open widow. There was also a small bookshelf propped up against one wall.   
  
Sasuke picked up one of the books, which was rather heavy, and opened it. It had plastic sheets instead of paper and instead of words it had little raised dots arranged in patterns. 'Whoever owns this room must be blind.' he thought, running a hand along the little bumps.  
  
"I see you've found my room." a voice said from the doorway. Sasuke glanced up as Seda entered. She wordlessly took the book from his hands, felt the bumps on it's surface, and smiled. "It's probably a good thing you can't read this." she said, and placed the book back where it had been before. "Supper will be ready shortly, so I'll show you to a guest room." She smiled again, and waited patiently for him to answer.  
  
Sasuke was struck dumb for a moment. 'Seda's blind?' he thought incredulously to himself, but nodded and followed her out of the room. He didn't think that a blind person could become a ninja. He studed her movements as Seda lead the way down the hall. 'That would explain why she never really looks at a person ...just in their general area...' He noticed that she didn't need to place her hand on the wall for guidence, nor did she hesitate when it came to corners. 'She must know this house well...' Sasuke thought to himself, 'But it will be very different when we get out into the wild.'  
  
A grey cat jumped out into the hallway in front of her and Sasuke feared for a moment that she would trip over it, behind blind and all. Instead she stopped and waited for the cat to walk by before continuing down the hall. She stopped again in front of an inconspicuous door and opened it. "How about this room?" she asked, letting him take a look.  
  
It was....normal. Sasuke sighed and nodded his head, then remembered that she was blind and couldn't see the motion he had just made. He was about to open his mouth and say it was fine, but Seda nodded her head as if she had actually seen what he'd done. "There's a bathroom down the hall, you should wash up before supper." She told him, then left Sasuke standing in the doorway staring after her in confusion.  
  
Naruto glanced around his new surroundings, and was torn between feeling sorry for the girl and his annoyance at the whole situation. It was a tiny little apartment, with only one small bedroom off to the side. The kitchen area, living room and dining room were all basically combined into one medium sized room, and there was furniture that was apparently designed to move around, obviously intended to allow Mei her space when she needed it. Dispite all of this it was tidy and somewhat nicely decorated. Mei flushed and indicated her humble abode sheepishly. "Well...this is my house..." she said quietly.  
  
"Its..." Naruto started to say, then tried to think of a word to describe it. 'umm small, cozy, nicely decorated...' "Tiny" was the word that poped out oh his mouth. Mei twiched. "Ummm I mean its cozy!" Naruto frantically tried to save himself form the blunder he had made.  
  
Mei turned her head and looked behind her. "No, your right, it's tiny." she agreed with a sigh. "Oh well, come on in, put your stuff...wherever there's some room." She closed the door after him, then took the two steps to her 'kitchen', opened a cupboard, and closed it again almost immediately when she discovered it was almost empty. "Ummmm...." she blushed and opened another cupboard, this time holding two packages of instant noodles. "Ummm....do you like...noodles?" she asked, holding one up and realising it was an incredibly pathetic offering to a guest in her home.  
  
Naruto's eyes suddenly went wide and teary. "You...You have R-Ramen!" he cried happily and attached himself to her leg. Mei was caught off balance by the sudden...attack... and toppled over.   
  
"Gack, leggo!" She cried, trying to shake him off but to no avail. Deciding the ramen was what he wanted, she threw the package at him, and he let go. Naruto sat there, hugging the package of instant ramen with tears in his eyes.  
  
'Gee...does he have noodles on the brain or what?' Mei thought as she watched the blond hug the thing of instant noodles. Naruto looked up to thank Mei, but stopped when he saw the face she was making, -.-' "Umm do you have a tummy ache?" he asked not realizing that she was making the face because of him.  
  
"Ummm, no..." She answered, getting to her face and giving him another look, this time of disbelief. Was he a complete idiot? She ignored the fact that she had been called just that many times in her life. "Would you like me to cook that for you?" she asked, wondering if he was just going to hug it all night.  
  
'I should never have offered ' Mei thought miserably as she once again had a blue eyed blond boy attatched to her leg. She attempted to shake him off but to no avail. At last she was reduced to dragging him along on the ground, still attached to her leg, and just barely made it to the stove without falling over. 'Why me?' She thought as she stretched to her full capacity for a pot hanging above the stove but couldn't quite reach.  
  
Stretched out as she was, Mei almost had ahold of the pot. Unfortunately, she lost her balance, and knocked the pot off its hook as she fell, landing on the floor with the pot on her head. "Why me?" she asked aloud this time, wincing at the echoes within the pot.  
  
The pot was lifted off her head and Naruto looked at her with one eyebrow raised. "Why do you keep falling down?" he asked. Mei could feel a vein in her head start to pop out, and she suppressed the need to call him an idiot. Instead she angrily snatched the Ramen from his hand and stood up, pulling the pot wholly off her head and placing it on the stove.  
  
"Ewww aren't you going to wash that first?" Naruto asked. Mei twitched, turned and was about to lecture him on...anything really, but Naruto was already distracted by the many intresting things that cluttered her small home. Mei was left standing there with her finger raised and a twitch in her eye.   
  
"Ooh, this looks neat." Naruto said, pulling an old scroll off one of her shelves.   
  
"Hey, put that down!" she cried, and snatched it from him. Before she could tell him off, however, he was already on the other side of the room, examining the books on her bookshelf and pulling them out at random.  
  
Seeing that there was no way to stop the little snoop and make ramen at the same time, Mei emptied the contents of one of the ramen packets into the pot and threw the styrofoam container at the blond. It bounced off Naruto's head and he turned to look at her with a confused expression on his face.   
  
She ignored the look and turned around, pulling a large wooden spoon off the same place her pot had been hanging, and put it in the pot with the dry ramen. "When your finished maiming my house, would you go out and get a bucket of water from the barrel outside?" she asked, exasperated.  
  
Naruto was only too happy to comply. 'Anything for ramen,' Mei thought with a sigh as he snatched a bucket and dashed outside. He was back in a few moments, slopping water everywhere in his excitement. The bucket was only half full when he reached her, Mei looked at the bucket then to the wet floor, then to Naruto's grinning face.  
  
"Anything else I can do?" He asked eagerly. Mei twitched and looked beyond his shoulder to the puddles of water soaking into the only strip of carpet in her house, and several more veins appeared on her forehead. She was also turning a slight shade of purple. With a trembling hand she pointed to her sofa. "Just...sit..." she ordered, trying not to lose her temper.  
  
Naruto scratched his head, not really understanding why Mei was so annoyed all the time. With a shrug, however, he brushed off the whole thing and sat on the sofa. Mei sighed and turned back to the still uncooked ramen in front of her. She reached up and pulled the second package off the counter, as she was hungry as well. As she dumped this package in and dipped a ladel into the small bucket of water to measure it, Naruto watched her intently from the sofa. "Is it done yet?" he asked eagerly. In response she threw the second empty package over her shoulder. It landed on his head and stuck into his hair.  
  
"Hey!" Naruto snatched the thing from his head, "Do I look like a garbage can to you?" he demanded. Mei ignored him, she was really not in the mood to look after an annoying brat that trashed her house at a whim.   
  
When he didn't get a response he humphed and hunched back down onto the couch, folding the package absent mindedly. "Sheesh, why are girls so confusing?" he asked to no one in particular. Having nothing more to throw at him, Mei just ignored him and concentrated on the ramen  
  
Guido tried to ignore the pink haired girl following him, an action he felt was for the best, because if he had paid attention to her something would inevitably have happened and Guido would have gotten smacked ...or worse.  
  
He sighed and slumped his shoulders, wondering not for the first time what he had done to deserve the pain and suffering that seemed to plague him wherever he went. Reaching the small house he shared with his father, he opened it quietly, and peered inside nervously for a second. The last person he wanted to see right now was his dad, and he hoped he'd already gone off on the trip he'd been planning.  
  
Seeing that the place was uninhabited, Guido entered with Sakura following close behind him. They had not even exchanged two words the entire trip here, and Sakura had had enough of the silence. "I'ts...nice..." she said politely, while Inner Sakura cursed 'DAMN!DAMN!DAMN! WHY Couldn't I be with Sasuke?!'  
  
"Thanks, I..." He started, when a the door opened once more, revealing a tall man who had dark hair and was wearing a suit. Guido paled, dreading what was to come next. The man, his father, stared at him for a moment, then stared at Sakura, then back at him again. For a moment Sakura was afraid he was going to be angry, but he suddenly broke into a huge grin and jumped over to slap his son on the back in congratulations  
  
His eyes were filled with tears, "I-I'm SO PROUD OF YOU, SON!" he cried, and engulfed Guido in a bear hug. Sakura was standing as far back from the man as she could.  
  
Guido looked very unamused as his father let go of him and slapped him on the back again so hard he almost fell over. His father turned to Sakura and nodded appreciatively. "Ooh, and she's a pretty one, too! Good work son!"  
  
Guido twitched. "It's not like that!" he complained.  
  
"Ohhhhh..." His father rubbed his chin and gave his son a skeptical look, "Reeeealy?" He asked, his eyes glinting.   
  
Guido flushed even more 'W-what is he implying?' he thought to himself, and backed up a little as his dad moved his face so that it was inches from his own. "Then WHAT is it?" his father asked, leaning even closer. Involuntarily, Guido leaned back more to get out of his father's reach.  
  
"It's...she has to stay here for the night..." Guido said, caught off guard, then immediately wished he hadn't said anything. His dad positively glowed with pride, tears streaming down his cheek.   
  
"Ahh my son! I knew you would someday follow in my footsteps! This is a proud day for fathers everywhere when..." Guido left his father to his ranting, grabbed Sakura's hand and dragged her upstairs.  
  
Sakura was too stunned by the display she'd just witnessed to even think of resisting, but as soon as they were away from Guido's father she nailed him in the back of the head with her elbow. "Y-you .... You..." Sakura tried dasperately to think of a name to call him, but Guido supplied one himself.   
  
"Pervert?" he suggested, rubbing his sore head.  
  
Sakura blinked, and collapsed cross legged on the floor and seemed to brood to himself. For a pervert he was sure...non pervertish. "Um...are you ok?" she asked, feeling slightly guilty for causing the huge lump that was forming on his head.  
  
"Don't worry, this is nothing, compared to the beatings I get from Mei." he said with a lazy wave and a sigh.  
  
The silence between them was a bit unsettling for Sakura, so she said the first thing that popped into her head. "Um, your dad seems..." again she tred to think of what to say, and again Guido finished her sentence for her.   
  
"Perverted?" He sighed and closed his eyes.   
  
"Um, yeah..." Sakura answered and shuffled over to sit next to him. "What's up with him, anyway?"  
  
Guido looked at her with eyes that were tired and worn. "He's been like that ever since I can remember...no wonder the whole village thinks I'm some kind of inherent pervert." He looked back at the floor and sighed again. "No wonder my mom would never want a child of his living with her..." He stood up and walked up to a bookshelf, and fingered the spines of his ninja books, something his father had never understood about him.  
  
Sakura looked at him in the dim light, 'he looks so sad...and he's not all that bad looking....' Her thoughts were interrupted by Inner Sakura 'WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?! SASUKE'S #1! SA-SU-KE! SA-SU-KE! SA-SU-KE!!' Sakura twitched a little as Inner Sakura chanted away. Guido turned to look at his guest, "Are you all right?" he asked.  
  
"Umm...I'm fine." Sakura smiled sheepishly, waving it away with her hand. He looked at her skeptically, then pulled a book out at random and opened it.   
  
"You probably think I'm some kind of sick-o, too..." He mused, flipping absent mindedly through the pages. "Don't worry, I'm used to it by now, even though I haven't done anything to earn it..."  
  
Again Sakura was struck by how good he looked, and again inner Sakura squashed those thoughts, but that was okay because Guido continued talking.   
  
"I almost wish I had done something wrong...then maybe it wouldn't hurt so much..." he sighed and looked at Sakura. "Do you know how much it hurts to be accused of something you've never done?" he asked.  
  
"Well...no not really." Sakura confessed. "Must be tough, though." She added with sympathy.   
  
Guido blinked, then smiled. "That's the nicest thing a girl's ever said to me." he told her. "You just made my day, thanks." he smiled again. "And I'm sorry about my dad...you won't have to worry about him because he'll have to leave soon anyway..." A quick door slam from downstairs confirmed this. He put the book down on a table. "Umm...I guess you can stay in the guest room, I'll just have to get rid of dad's...er...decorations first." He blushed. "I suggest you wait here till I'm done...it's really not something a lady should have to see."  
  
Sakura twitched and tried not to run away screaming at the mere thought of what might be 'unsuitable for a lady.' She sighed and drew her legs up to hug them.. "Well I guess things could be worse...I could be with Naruto!" she then thought of how things could be so much better, 'DAMN THAT SEDA! SHE HAD BETTER NOT TUCH HIM!' Inner Sakura ranted. 


	3. Chapter 3

Sasuke sat in the small, sparsely decorated room and stared out the window. The sun was slowly starting to go down, and his stomach gave an annoying growl. Sighing, he wondered inwardly what was taking dinner so long. At last a timid tapping came at his door and he opened it to reveal a short nervous little man in a serving uniform. "Ah...m-master Sasuke is it?" the man asked skittishly. "D-dinner is served, sir." He bowed. "If you would please follow me?"  
  
Sasuke mearly nodded his head and followed the pathetic man to the dining area. Upon entering the room, he was hit with the smell of food. It was intoxicating to the hungry ninja, and his stomach let him know that he had waited too long for such good food. Naruto's burnt fish was not something Sasuke had enjoyed.  
  
He rounded the corner and came upon one of the most impressive sights his eyes had ever seen. A long table was set in the middle of the room, piled high with almost every kind of food imaginable, fortunately with the exception of burnt fish.   
  
"He made too much again, didn't he?" Seda asked with a touch of annoyance. "Really, I don't know why my mother keeps that man around..."  
  
Sasuke stared at all the food...as hungry as he might be, he was sure that he couldn't eat all of it. "Umm..." was his reply, not really sure what to say in such a situation.   
  
Seda sighed, "Well I guess some unfortunate people will get a good meal tonight," she said, and even though she sounded annoyed, she didn't look it.  
  
"Well, have a seat." Seda said, indicating a chair on one end of the table. "Eat what you can and leave the rest, I'll take care of it." she smiled, then went aaaaaaall the way down to her table at the other end, and pulled a salad over to her, eating silently.  
  
Sasuke sat down, telling himself that he was glad to be left alone. 'At least this way I don't have dead last glaring daggers at me or Sukura drooling over me.' After a few minutes of the silence, however, Sasuke realised that he was just pushing food around with his fork. 'Damn those two...now I can't seem to get comfortable without the noise!' He sighed and, picking up his plate, traveled down the long table and sat beside Seda.  
  
Seda looked in his relative direction with mild surprise. "I thought you were the type that didn't like sitting near people?" she asked with amusement. "Never mind, " she smiled. "Here, try some of this pie for dessert, it's very good." she pushed a pie with one peice out of it towards him.  
  
Sasuke said nothing, but he tried the pie anyway. He was surprised to find it was the best damned pie he had ever tasted. Seda smiled with amusement, 'She seems to know more of what's going on then most people...' Sauske thought as he took another bite of pie.  
  
"Would you like to do something tonight before we retire?" Seda asked, reaching over and grabbing hold of a chicken leg. "I mean, it's a small town and everything so we don't have much but...well, actually, this town is pretty boring, come to think about it. I hear the cliff views are nice though." She bit into her chicken and waited patiently for an answer.  
  
"B-but you're...blind..." Sasuke stated rather bluntly before realzing it. He ducked his head and stared down at his plate. 'Damn, I should have just stayed at the other end of the table!' Sasuke thought, and waited for the water-works to start. 'Damn these girls and their emotions..."   
  
"You're right, and besides, it's late, there wouldn't be much to see anyway." Seda's response was not what Sasuke was expecting.  
  
He looked up and blinked as Seda calmly nibbled on her chicken. "Well, now that we have that out of the way, what time would you like to wake up tommorow? I can have Jiles get you up at any time you like." She indicated the small butler man, who bowed. "By the way..." she added as an afterthought. "Do you know where it is we're going? Our...'instructor' didn't exactly offer any pearls of wisdom...as usual."  
  
"No...unfortunately I don't know much about where we're headed." Sasuke admitted. "Our sensei has a habit of not filling us in on important facts until after a crisis arises." Sasuke was annoyed with their sensei for many reasons...but at least he did show up...eventually.  
  
"Well, I'm done." Seda pushed her plate away and burped very unladylike. She sat back in her chair and closed her eyes, waiting.  
  
"Uh...what are you doing?" Sasuke asked, wondering why she hadn't gotten out of her chair if she was done with dinner.  
  
"Well what kind of a hostess would I be if I left my guest all alone?" Seda answered simply, with a smile in his direction.  
  
Sasuke blushed a bit, and was very glad that she could not see the slight pink tones on his cheeks. "Ummm...." He said intelligently. 'Damn this girl, why is she doing this to me?'   
  
He tackled his pie again, finishing it in two bites. "There, I'm done." he stated, thougth a full mouth.  
  
She smiled again. "Take anything you wish to bring with you on the journey." she advised, and he grabbed a few loaves of bread and some cheese. "Shall we retire then?" she asked. He nodded, realised she couldn't see him, and opened his mouth to speak, when she nodded herself. "Fine, I'm quite tired myself." She said standing up. "Would you like me to escort you to your room, or would you prefer that Jiles do it?"  
  
"Um, you." Sauske blurted out before he could stop himself, 'Damn it, why did I jsut say that? Now she'll think I like her or something....WHICH I do not!' Rather than let her know that he had made a mistake, however, he followed her to his room.  
  
Reaching the door, Seda stood off to the side while he opened it, and smiled at him. "You know, I'm starting to think I might like this journey more than I thought...well goodnight then, Sasuke-kun." she waved and traveled down the hallway to her own room, leaving a confused and very red faced Sasuke standing alone in the hallway.  
  
Mei groaned, it was the middle of the night and Naruto was snoring like some wild animal crossed with a blender. He was sleeping on the floor while Mei was in the bed. There was no damn why they would have shared a bed...even with the cramped space. Mei sat up and looked at the blonde, then picked her alarm clock up and chucked it at him.  
  
The clock bounced off his head, causing him to twitch, snort, rub his head sleepily, then fall asleep again, snoring even louder, if that were possible. Mei twitched. What kind of a ninja was he anyway? She sighed and grabbed hold of her blanket, tip toeing over him to try and find a quieter spot in the small house, although she doubted there was one.  
  
Mei turned to look out the small window, 'Damn, anyplace is better then here.' she thought, then wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and slowly opened the window, climbing out. Praying that she wouldn't fall, Mei maneuvered her way onto the roof. Once there she sighed. 'Damn, I should have brought a pillow...' she thought miserably. Sighing in resignation, she pulled her blanket tighter around herself and leaned into a space on the roof that was at least protected from the wind. The moon was only half full, and she tried to lull herself to sleep by staring at it's pale face.  
  
"Mei?" a soft voice called, and Mei was startled by the dark shadow that loomed over her. "What are you doing out here?" the shadow asked again and moved closer, coming into the moonlight. It was Naruto. Mei sighed and let her body relax, not realzing that she had become tense in the first place.  
  
"I'm trying to sleep." she answered, slightly annoyed. "You woke me up with all your snoring."  
  
Naruto put his arm behind his head and laughed nervously, "Really? Sorry 'bout that..." Mei could see his goofy grin in the moonlight.   
  
She sighed, knowing that she was never going to get any sleep this night anyway. "No its okay..." she blushed a little.  
  
Naruto knelt down and offered her his hand. "Come on, you should get back inside, it's freezing out here."  
  
Mei stared at his hand for a moment, then stood up on her own. She wasn't sure what it was that was making her blush but she was sure that she didn't want to make it worse by touching the guy. "Ok...thanks." she said, walking past him and crawling back inside through the window. She sighed happily. It was so much warmer in here!  
  
Naruto, who was crawling in behind he,r tripped on the windowsill, and fell forwards to land on Mei. He laughed nervously and got up off her back, then looked down at the now unconcious Mei on the ground (her eyes all swirly like). Taking a blanket and a pillow he gently tucked her in where she was.   
  
Sasuke was lost. He'd gotten up and, thinking that finding his way around a house to procure breakfast shouldn't be too hard, had ended up wandering down the wrong hallway. He groaned as he walked around a corner and came upon what appeared to be a ballroom of sorts. Where the hell was he?! He cursed under his breath and continued down another hallway in the hopes he would find his way.  
  
He heard footsteps behind him, and quickly tried to find a place to hide, since surely he was not allowed in this part of the house. But he had nowwere to go, and Sasuke didn't think that killing the person would be acceptable guest manners. 'What if it's her parents?...or some other person who would think I'm an intruder?'  
  
He stood, tensely waiting for the moment of truth, ready to fight if need be...how was he to explain himself anyway? A shadow appeared from around the corner and slowly shrunk as the person came closer and closer...finally they were coming around the corner...   
  
"Oh, there you are, Sasuke-kun." Seda's voice said from behind him.  
  
Sasuke blinked and turned around, 'When did she get there?' the thought. "Umm..." he muttered, at a loss for words.   
  
The figure came around the corner and revealed itself to be a tall woman, wearing an expensive dress...apparantly ready to go out somewhere. She looked at Seda, and compltely disregarded the boy she was talking to. "Ah, Seda, have you seen my purse?" she asked.  
  
"No, mother, I haven't." Seda answered, with a touch of annoyance in her voice.  
  
"Oh, of course you couldn't have, sorry." The woman answered, "Are you going somewhere?" She asked, eyeing Seda's plain clothing...or at least it looked plain to her eyes.  
  
"I have a mission. I'll be gone for a while." Seda answered.  
  
"Is that so? Well...have fun then..." Her mother then proceeded to continue through the house.  
  
Sasuke looked sideways at Seda, she looked rather annoyed. He could understand why though, her mom looked and acted like a bit of a flake. Seda shook her head as if to rid herself of something unpleasant. "Anyway shall we have brackfast before we go?" she asked.  
  
"Uhhh, sure." Sasuke answered, mentaly berating himself. Since when had he been so unable to speak? He fell into step behind her and was once again amazed at the fact that she didn't seem to get lost at all, whereas he, who could see, had no idea where he was.   
  
She lead him into a little obervatory filled with plants, that had a small little table in it. "I thought this would be a better place to eat this morning...the cook will have a harder time piling this table high with unwanted food." She smiled and offered him a seat.  
  
Sasuke sat down in the seat offered, but again the silece between them was making him nervous. 'Damn it why, am I being affected by her so much?' He thought, then said aloud: "So...umm your mom...what does she do?" 'Great now I'm making idle conversation.' he scolded himself.  
  
Seda sighed. "My mom ...doesn't work, she inherited her her money from her late grandfather."  
  
"Oh...what about your dad?" Sakuke asked. 'damnit, now I'm just going to make her cry or something', he thought bitterly to himself.  
  
"Dad's a ninja." She answered. "I haven't seen him for a long time, though. I think he's working for a civilian town to the east somewhere."  
  
"Is that why you became a Ninja?" Sasuke asked. 'You're still making idle conversation, Sasuke..." He thought angrily to himself. "Damn, just think of this as a recconisance mission.' Sasuke, with this new view on the whole thing, began to relax a bit.   
  
"Only partly..." Seda answered. "Mostly it was because I wanted to prove to myself and my mother that being blind is not a handicap."  
  
Sakuke's newfound view wilted like a week old flower. He thought back to what he'd first thought when he learned she was blind. That she wouldn't make a very good ninja...a pang of guilt struck him as he realised how much that would have hurt her if he had said it out loud.  
  
Seda's blind eyes looked through him. "I know you thought that I would be trouble when you first realized that I was blind. That's why my teammates don't know..." She sighed "I wouldn't have told you, but I didn't want to lie. Its not something I'm confident in doing."  
  
"Uh..." Sasuke stared at her a moment, then smiled despite himself, even though he knew she couldn't see it. "I understand. Your secret is safe with me."  
  
"Thank you, Sasuke-kun." Seda sighed, relieved, then looked up as Jiles appeared with two plates of pancakes. "Ah, here comes breakfast." she pointed out. "I don't know about you but I'm starving."  
  
"Yes, thank you..." Sasuke answered politely, then dug into his pancakes. Seda, sitting across from him smiled and began eating as well. 'For a blind girl, she has more manners then Naruto will ever possess.' He thought, then went back to his pancakes.  
  
Mei yawned, and leaned against one of the stone pillars. Her head hurt and she really had no idea why, but she was at least awake enough to know that she wouldn't pass out along the way. Although one thing still bothered her...why had she woken up on the floor?  
  
"Are those people ever going to get here?" Naruto complained, flopping down on the grass.  
  
Sakura and Guido showed up next, and both looked well rested and none the worse for wear. Mei did a quick sweep of Sakura with her eyes. 'Hair in place, clothing unrumpled...no evidence of perverted hands at work here!'   
  
Sakura came up to Naruto, looking around anxiously. "W-where's Sasuke?" she asked, consern filling her voice, "He's usually here before anyone."  
  
"How should I know?" Naruto answered, sitting up. "Do I look like his keeper to you?"  
  
Sakura twitched, and clenched her fist. Sensing the danger, Guido jumped in between the two. "Hey now, we don't need to start fighting already, do we?" He looked at Sakura's dangerous looking face and gulped. "Um, do we?"  
  
Mei sighted with annoyance. "I don't know what you're so worked up about," She pointed hehind Sakura, back towards town. "There he is now, if you would just look." Sakura's eyes went all sparkly as she turned to look at where Mei was pointing, then her jaw dropped. It was Sasuke all right...but he was smiling...and talking to....that girl!  
  
"Hey...don't go killing anyone, ok?" Guido suggested, putting a hand on her shoulder with the intent to calm her down.  
  
"AHA! I knew it, you pervert!" Mei cried in triumph.  
  
"Oh no..." Guido complained dejectedly, as Mei's fist flew out of nowhere to knock him senseless once more.  
  
Sasuke and Seda came upon the scene and stopped, Sauske looked at Guido on the ground, who moaned, "Why me?"   
  
Sasuke smirked and turned to Seda, "You're right, your teammates are prone to various injuries."   
  
"Yes, it happens quite often, actually." Seda smiled back. Sakura, watching this, twitched angrily.  
  
"Hey!" she called, pointing to Seda. Seda turned her staring eyes toward her.   
  
"Are you adressing me?" Seda asked, not blinking.  
  
"Yes! Get away from Sakuke you...you...hussy!" She cried angrily.  
  
Seda ducked her head as if she was ashamed of what Sakura hand jsut said, but the low chuckle that escaped her lips was anything but. "Who are you to tell me where to stand?" she asked.  
  
Sakura twitched, 'Damn this girl is strange,' she thought, then Inner Sakura took over 'She's a FREAK!'  
  
Seda looked up and past Sakura with that creepy gaze of hers. "If Sasuke-kun doesn't mind my presence, I shall talk to him all I like." She told her simply. "Do you mind my presense, Sakuke-kun?"  
  
Sasuke shrugged, as if he didn't care. "You can stand where you like." he said, making no move to even look at Sakura, who was by now sweating bullets.   
  
"Umm, Sasuke-kun...?" she squeaked, but he ignored her. Inner Sakura was now ranting, 'DAMN THAT WITCH!'  
  
"Oh, this is better than a movie!" Mei commented, sitting down to watch the scene with wide eyes.  
  
"I just wish we had some Ramen." Naruto agreed, nodding his head. Mei's pack flew through the air to connect with his head.  
  
"You eat popcorn at movies, not Ramen!" she complained.  
  
Sakura tried her next best approach...to stare the girl down, but that didn't seem to have any visible effect on the strange girl.  
  
"Well, that was fun." Seda smiled, while Sasuke tried to suppress one of his own "So, where are the instructors?" She wondered, stepping away from Sakura, who had face planted into the grass.  
  
Sasuke sighed, "If we're relying on our teacher it we could be waiting anywhere form now untill midnight." he sat down on the grass. Seda sat not to far away but close enough so that they could have a conversation...which they did to everyone's surprise and Sakura's annoyance.  
  
After what had to be hours, the instructor had not shown up yet. Sasuke and Seda were still chatting away, and Sakura was examining a lump on Guido's head. Guido himself had just come back to conciousness. Mei and Naruto sat staring at the whole scene with perplexed expressions on their faces.   
  
"Their acting very strange," Naruto commented to Mei, who nodded her head in agreement. Seda never talked to anyone if she didn't have to. And Guido...well she wasn't going to go there.  
  
Seda laughed at something Sasuke said, and a sweatdrop appeared on Mei's head. "Ok, now I'm just scared...who are these people and what have they done with our teammates?" Before she could get an answer, however, a piece of paper landed on her head. Grumbling, she reached her hand up to pick it up, and found there was a hand on her head. "EEEEK!" she screamed, flinging out a hand to strike the intruder.  
  
Kakashi easily dodged the pathetic attack from Mei and grinned at her from behind the mask.  
  
"Your late!" Naruto complained, standing up and pointing at his sensei.   
  
"Oh, sorry, I was waylaid by a runaway puppy and..." Kakashi started to explain.  
  
"LIAR!" Naruto and Sakura yelled, pointing at their teacher.  
  
Kakashi ignored them and stepped in front of the group. "Well I trust you all had a good night's rest?" At this statement, Naruto grinned, Seda smiled contentedly, and Sakura glared daggers at Seda. Sasuke betrayed little emotion beyond the slight tinge of red in his cheeks, and the other two simply looked annoyed.  
  
"How was your night, Mr. Kakashi?" Mei countered bravely.  
  
"OH it was fabulous!" he replied with a grin. "Your teacher sure knows how to treat a man!"   
  
Mei looked confused, "Is our teacher a woman?"   
  
Kakashi blinked...or did he wink? "What does being a woman have to do with anything?" he asked in an innocent tone of voice.  
  
"So...our teacher isn't a woman?" Mei asked, blinking.  
  
"Well now I didn't say that, did I?" Kakashi answered, holding up a finger.  
  
"So it is a woman!" Mei cried triumphantly.  
  
"I didn't say that, either." Kakashi added with that insufferable grin on his face.  
  
Mei was more confused then ever, "W-what's that supposed to mean?"   
  
Kakashi held up a finger, "Does one have to be confined by gender to have a good time with someone?" he asked her.   
  
Mei thought about this for a moment, then she turned green. "Eeeew, I don't wanna know anymore!" she complained, turning her back to him.  
  
"Don't give up so easily." Kakashi said with amusement in his voice. "Don't you want to know what we did?"  
  
Mei turned even paler and pressed her hands to her ears. "I'm not listening...I'm not listening..."  
  
Meanwhile, Sakura, Naruto and Sasuke all had annoyed faces, with an ominous black cloud hanging over them. 'KAKASHI IS SUCH A PERVERT!' Inner Sakura rannted.   
  
'I...don't get it...' Naruto thought, trying to piece together what he knew of Kakashi but not getting anywhere.   
  
'Hes enjoying Mei's confusion too much if you ask me...' Sasuke thought with a sigh.  
  
Kakashi laughed and turned towards the load. "Never mind, shall we go?" he asked. Five of the students broke free of Mei and followed him. Mei lifted her hands off her ears and noticed her companions were all starting down the road already.   
  
"Hey!" She cried angrily, following them. "You didn't give me a straight answer!"  
  
"Oh, then I guess you do want to know then. Well first we..." Kakashi started. Mei squeaked and hid behind Naruto. "Naruto-kun, make him stop!" she pleaded desperately.  
  
Naruto looked back and forth between Mei and Kakashi. His confused exspression was becoming more intense as the minutes wore on. Kakashi chuckled and continued walking down the road.  
  
"Your Sensei is...odd." Seda commented, walking along beside Sasuke, while Sakura hung around behind them, a black cloud of anger surrounding her. Guido was wisely staying away from her for the moment, and was walking lazily at the back of the group, looking up at the sky expressionlessly.  
  
"Yes..." Sasuke replied, not really wanting to exsplain that this was actually pretty normal for them. 'At lest Sensei hasn't pulled out his 'Icha Icha Paradise' ...yet.' He thought. The ominus 'yet' filled him with dread.  
  
"Hasn't anyone thought to ask where it is we're going?" Guido asked quietly from the back, thankful he was far enough away from Mei's anger not to be injured for speaking up.  
  
"We're going north, that's all you need to know." Kakashi answered nonchalantly. "You will understand when we get there."  
  
"Aww, poo, he's no fun." Mei complained, sticking her tounge out at him.  
  
Kakashi turned and grinned in Mei's direction, "Would you like to read my copy of Icha Icha paradise?" he asked. Mei looked confused, but Naruto and Sakura freaked! (you know, the shocked look with the round white eyes) Sasuke just smirked, 'And there it is...'  
  
"Um...I'm guessing no." Mei answered uncertaintly.  
  
"No, I insist." Kakashi grinned and tossed it to her. Before it hit her she phased out of existence and re-appeared a few feet away, staring at the thing in horror as it struck the ground.  
  
'Hmm, good speed.' Kakashi thought to himself. He glanced at the other two out of the corner of his eye, wondering what their skills were.  
  
Mei stared at the book in horror, before she noticed something. The book on the ground had vegetables on the cover, and with shaking hands she picked it up and opened it. "What the-?" she stared at it, then looked back at Kakashi, "This is a cook book..."  
  
TBC 


	4. Chapter 4 it's a chapter, really!

A/N: Kyaaa! I checked my files one last time and found this buried in my msn folder under a different name than it should have been! So I can actually update SOMETHING, yay! Granted it's the least read of all the stories, but I believe it's also the slowest for getting updated, so rejoice loyal readers!   
  
Warnings: Nothing really...Sasuke tends to be a little OOC....well a little more than a little actually, but oh well. Keep in mind that this was like our first Naruto fan fic...and was written when we really didn't know a heck of a lot about the series, so it isn't quite as good as our other stories...but hey who cares, right? It's still amusing, so enjoy!  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Kakashi only smiled and continued along, leaving a twitching Mei behind him. "You are so annoying!" she called, throwing the book at him. He caught it deftly and it dissapeared back into his pack so quickly they were unsure it had even been out in the first place.  
  
Naruto sighed and rubbed his grumbling tummy, they hadn't stopped for lunch and it was almost dinner time. "I'm soooo hungry." he complained for the millionth time. Sakura threw him an annoyed look, "You're always hungry!" she threatened to hit him, while inner sakura ranted. 'Damn Naruto! I'm starving! Waaaah!'  
  
Mei, who was holding her hungry stomach, came up behind with Seda and Sasuke. "Master Kakashi, can we pleeeease stop for lunch?" she pleaded to the leader of the group, who was showing no signs of fatigue, hunger, or really anything out of the ordinary. He just had his nose buried in that frightening little book of his.  
  
Kakashi looked up form his book and blinked at them, "We'll be arriving at a village soon, I don't know about you but I think staying at an inn is more preferable than sleeping on the ground."  
  
Mei floated by with sparkly eyes. "Oh thank you Master Kakashi!" she cried happily.   
  
"Will you get down?" Guido complained, grabbing her arm and dragging her back down to earth. She would have hit him but she didn't have the energy to spare so she just muttered under her breath. "Pervert." and fell back away from him.  
  
Guido sighed, 'Why does she hate me so?' he wondered, then the image of his father popped into his mind, 'Yeah that's why...if only I wasn't his son I would have a normal life.'   
  
Mei glanced up and noticed the slightly hurt look in his eyes and wondered if maybe she was all wrong about him....then she shook her head. Of course she wasn't wrong about him! He was nothing but a despicable pervert and she had to protect her fellow females from him.  
  
Sasuke watched this all with interest. "Do her eyes do that often?" he asked Seda, referring the visible fire that burned in them  
  
"I wouldn't know." She replied, "But Mei does seem to have a passionate hatred towards Guido." Sasuke nodded his head, not really concerned anymore if Seda could see it or not, she always seemed to know anyway.  
  
Seda sniffed the air. "Do you smell that?" she asked, a hint of concern in her voice.  
  
Sasuke sniffed but could smell nothing. "Smell what?" he wondered.  
  
"...Nothing...I could be imagining things but the air seems...somewhat wrong here." her eyebrows knit together slightly. "Tell me, where are we?"  
  
Sasuke looked around, and in a low voice he described the area that they were passing through.   
  
Seda nodded, "We're headed for West village then." (yeah dumb name I know--) She commented. "It's a peaceful town...hasn't had any trouble in the last ten years."  
  
Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, seems that way to me." he said in a low voice.   
  
"Then I must be imagining things." Seda said with a smile. "Perhaps I'm getting too suspicious."  
  
Sakura watched this exchange, and her eyes seemed to blaze every time Sasuke bent close to whisper to Seda. Her head swam with plans and schemes to get rid of the annoying girl, or at least get some time alone with Sasuke.  
  
Guido looked at Sakura and took two steps back, 'She got really scary all of the sudden...I wonder why...' As Guido pondered the possible things that could have gotten Sakura in such a state he didn't notice the rock that was in front of his foot. The rock upon which he tripped. Something soft broke his fall...looking up, Guido noticed it was none other than Mei's butt...great...  
  
Mei twitched and slowly turned to find Guido attached to her butt with a frightened look on his face. "Y-y-you...PERVERT!" she screamed, and somehow managed to fling him over the heads of the rest of the group and down the road a ways where he landed face first in a mud puddle. Breathing heavily, Mei shook her fist in his direction. "And to think I was actually almost feeling sorry for you! Jerk!" She finished by crossing her arms over her chest and huffing angrily.  
  
Guido slowly stood up, while everyone was holding their breath watching and waiting. He took two steps then fell down again. Mei stared, she hadn't meant to hit him that hard....or had she? Mei was pondering her own little thoughts on the matter while Kakashi went to go see if their fallen comrade was still alive.  
  
Kakashi looked grave as he surveyed Guido's injuries. He then reached down and picked up the unfortunate youth. Seeing his immobile form, Mei decided that she really hadn't meant to hurt him that badly. She rushed up. "I-is he ok?" she asked nervously.  
  
"He needs to see a doctor." Kakashi answered simply.  
  
"Oh! Guido-kun, I'm so sorry!" she said, although she was sure in his unconscious state he couldn't hear her.  
  
Kakashi smiled reassuringly at her, "He should be okay, but I suggest you not try to kill him for a while yet, k?"   
  
Mei nodded her head meekly, 'I really have to watch what I do!' she scolded herself mentally, 'It's not like you're fighting a giant animal here!'  
  
Kakashi turned and carried the unconscious Guido down the road, and through the wooden gate of West villiage. Mei followed meekly, unwilling to even speak or look up from the ground. Several children spotted the visiters and rushed off into a house near the entrance. A woman stepped out, wiping her hands on her apron, and smiled at them. "What you be needin, sir?" She asked sweetly.  
  
Kakashi smiled and nodded, "You wouldn't happen to have a healer in this village ma'am?" he asked politely. The woman nodded her head and pointed down the street. "3rd house on the right, past the stables, you can't miss it." She informed him and Kakashi nodded his thanks, motioning for the students to follow him.  
  
With every step into the village, Seda seemed to look more troubled, but she didn't say anything about it, so Sasuke didn't ask. The group passed the stables and came upon a small house with blue smoke coming from the chimney. "Mei, if you would." Kakashi said, since he couldn't very well knock on the door with a boy in his arms.   
  
Mei didn't say anything, but stepped up and rapped the head shaped doorknob.  
  
The door opened, and half of a face peeked out, "Yes?" a timid voice asked. Kakashi smiled, "Hello" he said and held up the unconscious boy, "We were just on our way to you're town when one of our comrads had an ...accident. A lady directed us here." the visable eye looked obviously scared, but the door closed and they could hear dead bolts being slid back. The door opened again and the owner of the eye, an aged lady, beckoned them inside.  
  
They all trooped into the small house, and the healer all but slammed the door, throwing deadbolts back in place, locking the door thoroughly before she turned to look at them. The old lady seemed tired and strained, and it was with slight curtness that she waved at a small bed in the room. "Place him there." she told Kakashi.  
  
Kakashi did as she bid him and stepped back from the boy. The room was very cramped with five teenagers, two full grown adults, and all the herbs, jars and other various items around the room. Sakura, who was very annoyed to be squished up against Naruto and Mei, would rather have been in Seda's place. Seda was standing by Sasuke...very closely because of the lack of space.  
  
"How long do we have to stay in here for?" Sakura complained, while the Inner Sakura ranted. "How DARE she stand that close to him!!!"  
  
"I hope not too long, it's kind of warm in here." Naruto complained as well. Mei remained silent.  
  
Seda, however, seemed to have relaxed since entering the small house. "The air in here is much better." she told Sasuke.   
  
Sasuke looked around the room and smelled the air. The herbs that filled the room were giving off a strong odour that was making him slighly light headed. But he did agree that there was a much better atmosphere in the small room than outside...the village just didn't seem right somehow...   
  
"I know what you mean." he answered quietly. "When the old lady finishes, we should ask her if somethings going on here...she seems kind of nervous."  
  
Seda nodded. "What is she doing to Guido, anyway?" she asked. Sasuke leaned a little closer to describe it all to her. Sakura, had she been able to get around Naruto to see this, would have been furious.  
  
Naruto yawned loudly behind his hand, Sakura was about ready to immitate Mei and put the blonde in the hospital. 'Damn he keeps moving...meh well that's Naruto for you, always in the way.' she thought while inner Sakura ranted 'DAMN IT, MOVE YOU'RE FAT ASS!'  
  
Mei moved away from Naruto to inquire nervously if Guido was any better, and in doing so left a wonderful little window through which Sakura could see Sasuke and Seda perfectly well...and to her jealous eyes it looked like he was whispering sweet nothings into her ears or something.  
  
Naruto felt a battle lust in the air, and quickly checked to see if anyone was targeting him. Looking to his left he saw Sakura, the battle aura swirling around her dangerously. Following her gaze to see where she was glaring daggers at, Naruto saw a sceme he thought would never happen. Sasuke was FLIRTING WITH A GIRL! 'My god! I thought he was too good for any of the girls at home...apparantly my theory on Sasuke being gay was way off course.' He thought, a little shocked.  
  
Breaking into Naruto's thoughts, the healer stood up and addressed them all. "He should be ok after some rest..." she said, sounding tired. "Take these and protect yourselves...if you survive the night come see me again." she added, pressing some paper wards into Kakashi's hand. "Although I would advise you to get out of this town as soon as you can." she said in a hoarse whisper. She then unbolted her door once more and practically threw them all out, slamming it shut behind them.  
  
Everyone stood there looking back at the door. Everyone, that is, except Seda, who was clutching one of the wards in her hand. Sasuke placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to ease the girl's nerves. Sakura saw this and almost exploded right there.  
  
"I think we should leave as soon as Guido recovers." Kakashi advised with a serious expression. Seda looked slightly relieved by this, but still remained tense. Sasuke didn't remove his hand, partly because for some reason he couldn't bring himself to and partly because he was watching Kakashi and wondering what exactly was going on around here.  
  
"N-now what, master Kakashi?" Mei asked nervously.  
  
"Now..." Kakashi was tense as he looked into each of their eyes, (very serious here) "We find a place to stay for the night! " He exclaimed with unexpected cheeriness, holding up his finger.  
  
This declaration got him five very annoyed looks from the teenagers, but he paid no heed. "There should be an inn around here somewhere..." he said cheerily, scanning the town. "Aha, there's one, let's go, boys and girls." He shifted the weight of Guido in his arms and walked with surprising swiftness to the building he had indicated.  
  
Mei, Sakura and Naruto followed, apparently they couldn't sense the strange aura that hovered over the town. Seda, on the other hand, was almost in a right panic because of it, although she hid it very well.  
  
Sasuke watched her with the slightest feeling of worry. She had an outward appearance of calm, but something beyond the surface made him know that something was bothering her, and that bothered him as well. After all, he'd come to the understanding that she had better sensory perception than he, or any of the others did.  
  
Slowly Seda moved slowly to follow the other taking comfort in the hand that was still on her shoulder. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew that something was very wrong.  
  
It was if there was a veil over her senses...she was unable to perceive what she normally could, and that made her more frightened than if she had been able to sense it all. It was almost a suffocating force bearing down at her, and her head swam. She was starting to feel feint when Kakashi rented them rooms for the night, and was almost ready to fall over by the time they reached their room. She grasped Kakashi's sleeve as he closed the door and gasped. "The wards...please..."  
  
Kakashi looked down at the pleading look in her eyes, and his one visible eye widened. Quickly he placed Guido on a bed and got to work placing the wards. Once they were all up and activated, Seda sighed with relief and sank to the floor.  
  
The oppressive air around her dissipated and she was finally able to breathe. Sasuke knelt before her with a worried look in his dark eyes. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly, wondering if she was sick or something. Sakura twitched at the other end of the room.  
  
Seda nodded her head, taking deep breaths, "Yes, the wards worked better then I thought they would." She answered, and Sasuke sighed with relief and stood up to be met with 4 pairs of eyes staring at him (...well okay 3 1/2) in disbelief.   
  
"What?" he asked, his voice dripping with venom.  
  
"Nothing..." Naruto answered, looking to the side, but keeping the corner of his vision on what he now deemed the 'lovelorn' Sasuke. Sakura looked daggers at Sasuke but he paid it no heed, shoving his hands in his pockets.  
  
"If your done staring, I need to use the can." he said simply. Mei, who was standing next to the bathroom, jumped and turned away. Something in his voice told her that it would not be wise to stand in his way at the moment.  
  
Kakashi sighed and sat on the floor by the door. "We should get some rest." he sighed, and although outwardly their teacher looked calm, he was pondering many things. For one, what was up with this town? For another, what was wrong with Seda, she didn't have a Sharingan eye but she seemed to be affected by what was going on more than the others.  
  
Also, Sasuke was acting strange, and he had an unconscious teenage boy on his hands. He hung his head and continued to ponder.  
  
Mei timidly approached the prone form of Guido, racked with guilt. For once, however, she could think of nothing to say about the matter.  
  
Kakashi looked up from his pondering and saw Mei standing over the unconscious Guido. "It's not polite to attack people when their bedridden, Mei, why dont you get some sleep?"  
  
Mei started. "I-I wasn't going to attack him!" she retorted, obviously put off by the suggestion. She frowned though, and decided Kakashi was right. Besides, she was very tired. She looked around for a place to sleep, and wondered how they were to split up the two beds in the room, one of which had Guido resting on it.  
  
She looked over to the other bed, and found Seda and Sasuke were sitting on the end of it talking quietly to each other. She stormed over to them, "Move it or lose it," she ordered with a jerk of her thumb. She was tired, travel worn and cranky...not a good combination for a young ninja. Sasuke glared at her but Seda merely smiled and got up off the bed.  
  
Sasuke looked at Seda, then sighed and followed suit. Mei crawled into the bed and pulled the blankets over her head, trying to pretend that the rest of them weren't there. Within a few minutes she was snoring.  
  
As Mei snored the night away she didn't know that her bed was also being inhabited by a certain blonde boy, since he refused to sleep in the same bed with Sasuke and the other bed was being taken up by Guido.   
  
Naruto turned over in his sleep and smacked Mei in the face...apparantly the bed was really not big enough for two people. Groaning, she opened her eyes, noticed who her bed partner was, and was about to scream when she noticed a lone figure standing in the moon light beside the window.  
  
To Be Continued....  
  
Hmmm I wonder who that could be...no seriously, I can't remember who it is lol. Could be anyone really...  
  
Anyway, I hope that can tide all you readers over until I can get the chapters for the other stories up...which should be anytime after the 9th...I think... 


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